Vodafone to sell 9% more to Idea

British telecom major Vodafone will sell 9.5% additional stake to Aditya Birla group at a share price of Rs 130 after the merger takes place between them.

The Aditya Birla group has filed with BSE the composite scheme of amalgamation between Idea and Vodafone which reiterates its earlier announcement of the merger that says the merged entity will be governed by shareholder agreements.

In the merged entity, Vodafone will have a stake of 50 per cent, while Aditya Birla Group will hold 21 per cent. After the merger is complete Vodafone will have 45.1 stake after transferring the stake of 4.9% to the promoters of Idea for Rs 3,874 crore in cash and Idea will hold 26% stake while rest (28.9 %) will be held by other shareholders/ public.

Birlas will have right to have more buy more shares from Vodafone at the same price of Rs 130 a share in four years to equalise their stake. But if its not possible in four years, Vodafone will have to sell its own shareholding to Idea to equalise the stakes over the next five years.

The merged entity will have 400 million subscribers and a 35% marketshare making it the largest telecom company in India.